Boxing apparatus



March 8,1927. H 1,620,598

- E. E.'FO$TER' BOXING APPARATUS Filed April 28. 1926 WITNESSES QINVENTOR ATTORNEYS Patented Mar. 5%, 1927.

urrs r EDGAR E. FOSTER, OF MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA.

BOXING APPARATUS.

Application filed April 28, 1928. Serial No. 105,290.

My invention relates generally. to improvements in boxing apparatus for use in a gymnasium, the home or other suitable place for recreation and for the physical development of the user, and it consists in the combinations, constructions and arrangements herein described and claimed.

An object of the invention is he provision of a dummy boxer or punching device which normally-will remain in upright position and which will automatically swing back to upright position quickly after having been knocked from normal position by ablow.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a device of the character described which affords facilities for supporting a padded punching head or impact receiving member yieldingly in a desirable position so that it can be struck conveniently and forcibly by the hands of a user of the device and will yield under the impact of a blow but will be returned automatically to its original position.

A still further object of the invention is the provision ofa device of the character described which is simple in construction, not. likely to get out of order, and thoroughly practical for the purpose for which it is intended.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description, considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a. perspective view of the improved punching device,

Figure 2 is a vertical central section through the device.

The improved punching device comprises a base 1 which may be hemispherical as shown and is made of heavy hardwood or any other suitable material. The base 1 rests on the convexly curved surface 2 thereof so that the top surface 3 thereof normally will lie in a horizontal plane, the base normally being maintained in this position by reason of the provision of a weight, such as the mass of lead or other relatively heavy substance indicated at 4 which fills an axial socket 5 that is formed in the base 3 to open through the top face 3 of the base centrally of the latter. The base thus may rock on a fiat supporting surface, such as indicated at 6, but will automatically return to the position shown in Figures 1 and 2.

The device also includes an upright sup porting member 7 which is shown as being a hollow body that may be polygonal in cross sectional configuration. The upright hollow body 7 may decrease in cross sec tional area from its lower end for the 'eater part of its height, the extreme upper end portion of the hollow body being uniform in cross sectional area as indicated at 8. The upright walls of the body 7 may be stayed to each other andthe body 7 thus strengthened by horizontal plates such as indicated at 9, 10, 11 and 12. These plates lit snugly in the body 7 at different levels. the plate 9 being shown as fitting in the lower end portion of the body 7 so that the lower face of the plate 9 is flush with the lower edges of the walls of the body while'the plates 11 and 12 are l the lower end and the upper enchre'spective'ly,nof the upper end or head portion 8 of the body and the plate 10 is disposed within the body between the plates and 1:1 and somewhat nearer to the plate 11 than to the plate 9. These reinforcing plates may be secured to the walls of the body in any suitable known manner, as for example the fastening devices indicated at 13 for the plate 9 and at 14 for the plate 10. i

In assembling the body and the base of the device, the lower plate 9 may first be placed on the flat upper face 3 of the base centrally of the latter and secured firmly to the base in any suitable known manner, as by means of the fastening screws 11"). The body 7 then is placed on the base with the lower end portion thereof fitting oh the plate 9 and the body 7 thus Will be disposed in alignment with. the vertical axis of the base 1 and will be connected with the base to move with the latter as a unit when the lower end portion of the body 7 is secured to the plate 9by means of the aforesaid fastening devices 18.

The upper end or head portion 8 of the body is padded externally by a layer '16,

of cotton or other suitable relatively soft or yielding material. The layer of padding is of sufficient thickness to prevent injury to the hand of a user of the device who makes use of the device by striking with his clenched hands the padded upper end or head portion of the body of the device. The layer of padding preferably is disposed fiatwise against the lateral faces of the upper end portion 8 of the body 7 so that the padded head portion of the device will disposed at IOU have a plurality of lateral faces, any one of which may be struck by the user of the device. I

From the foregoing description of the various parts of the device, the opera tion thereof will be readily understood. The weighted base will be selfrighting so that the supporting body 7 normally will remain in vertical position. The padded upper end portion of the body of the device is termed the punching head or impact receiving member and the impact of a blow against any one of the lateral faces of this punching head will cause the device to rock on its base in the direction in which the force of the blow is exerted. As soon as the force of the blow is dissipated, the device will swing back by gravity to normal position, the body then being again vertically disposed. The combined height of the base 1 and the body 7 is such that the punching head will be disposed at a desirable height above the floor G with respect to the height of the user of the device. The user of the device then may strike the punching head with his fist or alternately with each fist and the device will be actuated under the impact of each blow on the punching head so that the punching head will swing away from the user of the device but will be returned automatically to position to be struck again by the user of the device. Thus the punching head always will swing away from the user after each blow and then back to the position to be struck again before such further blow can be struck.

The resistance that will be opposed by the device to the blows of the user of the device of course will vary with the size and weight of the base of the device but preferably will be sufficient to require an impact of considerable force to cause any appreciable swinging movement of the punching head portion of the device. This will "permit the user of the device to strike the punching head with relatively great force without tending to lose his balance each time a blow is struck.

The device is adapted especially for use in a gymnasium or in a home both to afford recreation to a user and to improve his physical condition and health. It is obvious that the members of the device may vary considerably in details of construction from those which are illustrated in the drawings and I therefore consider as my own all such modifications and adaptations thereof as fairly fall within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim 1. A boxing device comprising a base having a convexly curved lower face and a substantially flat upper face, said base having a vertical socket opening through said upper face centrally of the latter, a relatively heavy substance disposed in said socket, a hollow supporting body secured at its lower end to said base so that the axis of said supporting body coincides substantially with the vertical axis of said base, and a punching head carried at the upper end of said supporting body, said hollow body tapering in cross sectional area from its lower end to said punching head.

2. A boxing device comprising a base having a convexly curved lower face and a sub stantially fiat upper face, a weight imbedded in said base along the vertical axis of the base, a hollow body upstanding on said base with the axis of said hollow body substantially aligned with the vertical axis of the base, horizontal reinforcing plates in said hollow body, one of said horizontal plates being disposed at the lower end of said body and serving as a connector between the lower end portion of the body and said base, and a layer of padding on the upper end portion of said hollow body, whereby the padded upper end portion of said hollow body constitutes a punching head.

3. A boxing device comprising a base having a conveXly curved lower face and a substantially fiat upper face, a weight imbedded in said base along the vertical axis of the base, a hollow body upstanding on said base.

with the axis of said hollow body substantially aligned with the vertical axis of the base, horizontal reinforcing plates in said hollow body, one of said horizontal plates being disposed at the lower end of said body and serving as a connector between the lower end portion of the body and said base, and a layer of padding on the upper end portion of said hollow body, whereby the padded upper end portion of said hollow body constitutes a punching head, said punching head being polygonal in cross sectional configuration.

EDGAR E. FOSTER. 

